TWO consultants at The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, have been named among the best in the country.

Consultant anaesthetist Professor Chandra Kumar and consultant neurologist Dr Paul Reading have been named in The Times newspaper’s 2010 list of Britain’s Top Doctors.

Prof Kumar, who has been working as a clinical consultant anaesthetist at James Cook since 1987 and who completed his training in Middlesbrough at what was then South Cleveland Hospital, said: “I’m absolutely delighted for myself and my hospital.”

Prof Kumar has an international reputation in ophthalmic anaesthesia and this year received a platinum Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence award in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the NHS and to patient care.

Prof Kumar, who has professorships in Teesside and Riyadh, founded the acute pain service in Middlesbrough in 1990 and the British Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Society in 1998.

He also pioneered the use of continuous spinal anaesthesia for colorectal surgery in high risk elderly patients.

Consultant neurologist Dr Reading runs the sleep clinic at James Cook. He has a particular interest in narcolepsy and abnormal sleep in neuro-degenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Huntingtons.

Dr Reading’s neurology sleep clinic has been running for ten years, initially in Newcastle, and attracts referrals from across the country. He is also the treasurer of the British Sleep Society – the largest body in the UK for professionals involved in sleep medicine and science.

He said: “It is an honour and a great accolade to be named in this national publication.”